OK. So it's 4 am and both babies are awake. Our wake up time has gotten earlier and earlier. They go to bed at 6 and sleep through with a feed at 2 but I just kind of feel like 4 is too early! Has anybody let their kids cry in the morning and it works like crying at night - they learn to go back to sleep? I kind of feel like the morning is different because they've already slept for a long time. If I took them down and played with them now, they'd be tired and crabby in an hour. I bottle fed one (and he drank a lot which makes me wonder what he got from me when I breastfed a couple of hours ago). The other refused the bottle. He ordinarily doesn't drink much until he's been up a couple of hours. Elias is kind of wailing now but I've never done CIO with him. Ezra I have done it with and it sounds like he's pretty quiet though I don't know if he's fallen asleep. Our wake up has progressively become earlier and earlier - when is it going to stop and if it isn't going to stop on its own can I do something about it? By letting them cry am I just teaching them that they have to cry for an hour in the morning before I'll come to them - which doesn't feel like a lesson I want to teach. Have any of you had experience with establishing a morning wake up time and having it work (that they learn to sleep until that time, not that they cry until that time) Thanks
I knew I should have said that - they are 7.5 months old. This morning is just sucking! I need something to change!
All of my kids had an early waking phase. I treated it like a middle of the night waking. Once they were sleeping through the night at 4mos, if/when they woke up I'd wait 15min. If they stopped at any point in that 15 min, I started the time over. Because it's what they knew, they never cried/fussed longer than the 15 minutes unless there was a true problem. If they were still going at the 15 min mark, I'd check on them without turning on a single light. I'd feel my way around to get to the crib, I'd feel around for them, check to see if they maybe had a fever, had a leg stuck, blanket wrapped around them too tight, something like that. If all was okay, I'd whisper "shhhh, time for night night" and leave. I never had to go back after another 15 min. Our wakeup time was never before 7am. Bedtime was between 7 and 8. If you aren't opposed to CIO, that's how I'd handle the 4am wake up. Although your little ones are still eating during the night so my first goal would be to eliminate night feedings. Anyway, I'm rambling...I hope I helped!
All babies are different. In my experience I have never had any luck with good sleepers when putting them down that early. All 3 of my kids went down at 9 PM and all slept through at 4 months and less. It is 9 PM until 7 AM every morning.
Your post is LITERALLY word for word what IS my life right now. To be honest- I am just rolling with it cuz I go to bed at 7 pm when they go to bed at six. They are 15 weeks (10 adjusted) and at 8 weeks they picked their own bedtime of six pm. It was and still is quite miraculous the way that at six pm-- they are OUT! I am thankful that they are out this early cuz it gives me time to get stuff done and still get in bed BY 8 pm. I figure IF I am asleep by 8 and they get up at 4- I still got 8 hours of sleep!! IF one wakes up IN the nite to eat (happens 3 or 4 times a week), my dh does those feedings. That way at 4 am I am up and at 'em. MOST of the time they do go back to sleep after eating at 4-- but not always-- about 1/2 the time. People have told me that 6 pm seems too early but the truth is-- I cannot change it. They WANT and NEED to go to bed at this time so I've worked around it. It would be different FOR SURE if I had to go to work-- OMG I would die, but like this-- I just go to bed early too! Why not try that?? And then worst possible case scenario- they're up at 4 for the day and so are you but at least you slept well!!! It works VERY well for us! And if you can't get to sleep that early at first take Tylenol PM. Good luck and it's crazy that you have the same deal going on. At first it really sucked cuz I was up A LOT of the nite w/ them AND up at 4, but now it's fine cuz I'm not up at all during the nite. I would also try to eliminate the middle of nite feeding--- just feed them at 4 when they wake up.. Oh and that's another thing-- IF someone wakes up at 2 for a feed- they do not get up at 4 am. They get up at like 6- NEVER slept PAST 6 am tho. If there is no mid nite feed-- it's 4 am! Good luck to both of us!
